Junctions
by Queequegg
Summary: Sara and Jake discover a connection between them and must use it to find out who's been killing young women, before it's Sara's turn.
1. Long Days

{Hey everyone, I've written many stories, but this is the first that I have had courage to post, so please send me some review

{Hey everyone, I've written many stories, but this is the first that I have had courage to post, so please send me some reviews and let me know how I'm doing!}

It had been a horribly long day. Jake and I had been on a stakeout all evening we were sitting in our car parked across the street when we spotted our suspect running out the front door and down the nearby alley. The perp was suspected for murder of course, that's all you really get when you work in homicide. Two women had been found the day before. Both died of blood loss. I had suspected this guy from the beginning, but lacked enough information or evidence for an arrest. It's hard to get a warrant when all you have to go on is the fact that you saw, first hand, in a vision, this man slice the throats of both women. Jake had protested a bit the whole stakeout idea at first, but for some reason he trusts my "intuition."

A few minutes ago when the man had stormed out of the building, he was covered in blood and carrying a rather large knife. That seemed like some pretty good plausible cause for me. 

"Freeze! Police!" Jake yelled out as he jumped out of the car and we began to chase the man into the alley. 

The guy was fast and he made sure to knock over everything that he saw hoping to slow us down. He took another turn and found himself in a dead end, with Jake and myself right behind him. 

"Put down your weapon! NYPD!" I yelled to him with my gun drawn and aimed. 

"Okay….okay" The guy muttered between heavy breaths. Apparently the chase has winded him. 

"Nice and easy." Jake said standing in the same pose as myself just a few feet to my left. 

The man followed my partner's orders and slowly leaned down to place his knife on the ground in front of him. _Finally_ I thought to myself. I had really wanted to go home. That's when I noticed the guy pull out a small handgun from his pant leg and shoot towards my partner.

"Jake! Gun!" I screamed out. Instantly I sprang into action and the Witchblade took over. The mysterious living weapon that I harbored on my wrist awoke and instantaneously changed into it's "battle" form. It grew into an armor-like form that gloved my hand all the way to my elbow. 

"Watch out!" I yelled as I dove in front of Jake deflecting one of the shots fired off of the Blade.

In the process, I also knocked Jake to the ground, half in an effort to keep him out of harms way. And half because the force from the second bullet hitting me in the side pushed me back. I landed on top of him.

"Holy shit!" Jake screamed out, his voice full of adrenaline.

I rolled to the side and lay on the cold damp ground of the alleyway. I could see the perp running off as I winced in pain from turning my head.

"Oh my God, Sara. You're hit." Jake lunged to my side. His hand immediately covered the wound on my stomach that had already created quite a bit of blood. 

"Yeah, thanks partner. I noticed." I managed to get out my sarcasm. 

"Shit. Shit. Shit." Jake muttered to himself as he clumsily searched his coat pocket for his cell phone with one hand and applied pressure to my wound with the other.

"Don't call." I managed to blurt out between breaths. I was getting light headed from all of the blood loss. 

"No way Sara. You are NOT dying!" He said as he looked into my eyes, still clutching the cell phone and turning it on.

"I know." I said simply. "Don't call."

"Wha….?" Jake tried to ask in confusion. 

I took my still gloved hand and placed it atop of his, which was still over my wound. The jewel in the glove was glowing fiercely and the glove began to take it's more organic form as it spread across my hand, over Jake's and around my stomach. It almost moved as if it were a plant whose vines had come to life and acted like tentacles. 

Jake sat and watched. His mouth hanging open in amazement. The Witchblade had pinned his hand between itself and my stomach, although I'm not sure he even noticed until the expression on his face told me that he could feel what it was doing to me. 

"Aaaaaaah." I winced as I felt the warmth spread across me. Then without reluctance the "tentacles" retreated back to where they came and the weapon returned to it's bracelet form.

My hand slid limply off of Jake's as I lay in sheer exhaustion.

Jake lifted his hand and his eyes grew as he realized the wound had been healed. Only leaving behind the blood from earlier. 

"How did….?" I watched Jake try to rationalize what he had just seen. "Sara? Sara are you okay?" He asked urgently. I nodded before passing out.

***********


	2. Next Mornings

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I awoke several hours later, lazily blinking my eyes, trying to focus in the bright morning sunlight. _Where am I?_ I thought to myself before glancing over and recognizing the surfboard that leaned against the wall. I was at Jake's apartment. In his bed. It was at that moment I began to remember what had happened the night before. 

"Sara?" Jake quietly called out my name as he peeked inside the door. 

"I'm awake." I stated as I slowly sat myself up in the bed.

"Hey." His voice was soft as he came and sat on the edge of the bed near me. There was a moment of silence before I spoke.

"Thank you." I said sincerely, I turned to look at him and smile.

"For what? You saved my life last night and almost got yourself killed in the process." His tone was serious and his gaze was caught on my face. 

"For taking care of me. And about last night, Jake I …….."

"What is it?" He asked, cutting me off. His voice was still soft and quiet and his eyes shifted to my bracelet. He ran his fingers over it lightly, examining every part of it.

"Can I explain over breakfast? Losing all that blood sure leaves you famished." I said smiling, trying to lighten the mood. He nodded in response before getting up and quietly exiting the room.

***********

I stepped out of the hot shower, the room filled with steam. I stood in front of the bathroom mirror and wiped away some of the fog. As I stood, I slid my wet toes across the cool bathroom tiles, trying not to think about how long it had been since Jake had last cleaned them. I twisted my wet brown hair up into a knot. With my arms above my head affixing the hair clip I examined my side. All that was left when I ran my fingers across the smooth skin was a small dimple where the wound had once been.

"Pez!"

I sniffed the aroma that seeped into the humid bathroom. Smells like Jake finished the waffles. 

"Just a second!" I yelled back to him through the door. I slipped on the t-shirt that Jake had loaned me and pulled tight the drawstring on the three-sizes-too-big pajama pants before joining him for breakfast.

***********

I had been so nervous to tell Jake about the Witchblade, but instead, it was more like a well-needed weight off my shoulders. Once I started telling him the basics it all began to spill out. I told him everything; right down to Ian, Irons and the Perriculim. Surprisingly enough he took it with stride. 

"Wow." Was all he could manage to say after I finally stopped talking. "I guess that at least explains a lot."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked quizzically, somewhat annoyed by his teasing.

"Well, it explains how you walk away from impossible situations, all the recent "deaths by unidentified sword," you blanking out now and then. You know, a lot."

I laughed. Man it felt good to be able to share this with someone, well someone I trusted. Who's still alive, I added, No offense Danny.

***********

The next day I sat in our dingy office filling out paperwork about the failed stakeout. The perpetrator had gotten away on foot while Jake had attempted to stop my bleeding. Of course, the report was going to be hard to fill out without using the words, "mystical healing power."

I attempted to come up with a good reason why two highly skilled cops let this guy get away when Jake came in the office. Without a word he shut the door and sat down at the desk across from mine and smiled.

"Yesssssss?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and returning his misplaced smile.

"Seen any good visions lately?"

"What!? Are you making fun of me?" I darted back. 

"No. I just like being in the loop that's all. So I …….."

His words faded out as I suddenly saw blood, lots of blood. The killer, he was there too, smiling and laughing to himself. Then he turned and waved at me, I got a better look at his features this time. His face looked old, although I doubt he was more than thirty. His hair was a dirty brown/blond color and his teeth were a nicotine stained yellow. I felt a chill run down my spine. "Your too late Sara." Was all that he said.

"Pez! You -."

Jake's hand touched my shoulder and instantly the vision vanished. I blinked and looked up at him standing beside me looking a little dazed.

"For a second there Pez, I thought I was seeing something too." He exclaimed.

"That's just great! You can't do that Jake, one of us has to be the sane one and it sure isn't me." I joked before my tone changed darker. I looked down at the file on my desk, "I think our guy just killed again."

"Pezzini, McCarty!" An officer hollered at us, leaning inside the office door. "The Captain wants to see you, there's been another murder."

{Well are you intrigued? Let me know! Thanks everyone, have a wonderful day!}


	3. Contingency

Chapter 3:

Chapter 3: Contingency 

Contingency:

1 : the quality or state of being contingent  
2 : a contingent event or condition: as a : an event (as an emergency) that may but is not certain to occur b : something liable to happen as an adjunct to or result of something else

After awhile all crime scenes begin to look alike. There's always a body, a dark creepy room and usually a lot of blood. In this case, a whole lot of blood.

"Well the coroner is pretty sure that it was "death due to loss of blood." I 'd say that's a pretty good guess." Jake motioned around the room.

A woman in her mid thirties lay sprawled out on the floor in a once nicely decorated apartment. Her throat, wrists and ankles had all been sliced up and her right hand had been cut clean off. She lay in a pool of blood soaked carpet. There was a wet, glimmering redness covering everything.

I knelt down near her body to get a closer look. Same M.O. as our guy, he really liked to slice them up. For whatever reason drove him to do this, he seemed to enjoy it. 

I took a few notes on the crime scene as the crew around me took pictures. Suddenly, I slipped into another vision.

"Sara." The man said, the scruffy gray brown hair around his lips shifted as he smiled.There was blood, so much blood. A woman screamed. "Sara." The man's voice again. A knife reflecting light off of it's tip. "Sara." More blood. "Sara, you're next!"

"We're done here Sara….." Jake leaned over placing a hand on my shoulder, my vision just stopped.

I stood up and looked over at Jake, he shook his head and blinked as if he were waking up from a dream. 

"Jake?" I asked softly, raising an eyebrow. 

"Lets go Pez." He said and walked out, I followed him to where our vehicle was parked. It had gotten dark out while we had been inside and the weather had gotten much colder. 

"Jake what was that?" I asked seriously as I climbed into the car.

"Pez, I think I shared your vision. I don't know how, but when I touched your shoulder, it was just like before, only more intense."

"What did you see?" I asked, needing to know.

"Blood. Lots of it. And you, bleeding." His voice was quiet as he stared out the windshield.

"That sounds like the vision-of–the-day." I joked. "Maybe it's a sign that we should call it a night." 

"You know Pez," He looked over at me. "it's a Friday night, there's nothing we can do until we get in the forensic reports. Well, do you want to get a drink? I could really use one." His look was almost pleading me.

"YOU could really use one? Talk about an understatement. Let's go." I smiled back at him as we drove off.

******

We sat at a big booth in a small dimly lit corner if Jim's Bar. _Joker_ by the Steve Miller Band was playing from the jukebox. This was my place to come and unwind, and usually win a bit of money playing pool. Jake had stumbled upon me here one time and lost $20 in the process. I had given him a hard time about coming here before. That it was where I went to get AWAY from work, but right now I couldn't have asked for better company.

"Oh my god! You didn't!" Jake spit out between his laughter. 

"How was I supposed to know he was an undercover cop!" I joined in his laughter. We had been sitting here for almost two hours exchanging stories and hysterical tales. It still seemed weird to me to be able to laugh again like this. It had been a rough year with the death of Danny, my partner and my lover Conchobar.

Our laughter wrapped up and we broke into a moment of silence as we both sipped out of our respective bottles. Jake finally took this opportunity to begin asking me one of about a million questions I'm sure he has concerning me and the Witchblade.

"So have any other people shared," He looked around for prying eyes and ears. "your visions?" 

"Not that I'm aware of." I answered.

"Then why me?"

"Supposedly everything happens for a reason, all things are connected." I started to explain. "Maybe you being my partner, by my side, is all part of the _Destiny of the Blade_." I tried to emphasize the "mystical meaningfulness" of the last part with a gesture towards my bracelet. "Perhaps when your hand was between it and me when I was healed triggered some sort of a reaction." I shrugged then smiled. "Maybe you're just going crazy." 

"Ha. Ha." He said, obviously not amused. "Seriously Sara. I think some of what you just said might be true." He leaned across the dark wooden table and took my hand in his. "I feel …. I feel like I have some sort of "connection" with you now."

"Wow Jake, you ARE a smooth talker." I smiled.

"Sara. I'm serious, I..." He looked hurt by my lax. "Never mind." He stuttered a bit and glanced around nervously letting go of my hand. He really was serious, I felt bad for teasing him so much. 

"Jake, I'm sorr-"

"You know," He cut me off and glanced down at his watch. "It's really late, mind if we take off?"

I shook my head letting him know that I was ready. I threw down some bills on the table to cover my part of the tab and grabbed my jacket as we headed out the door.

"Good night Jake. Thanks for the company." 

"Goodnight Sara." He gave me a half-smile as I shut the car door and turned to head up for my apartment.

My god! What a long day, I thought to myself as I dropped my jacket and holster on the couch and headed to the bathroom to get ready for bed. I'm so glad that I'll be able to sleep-in tomorrow. I looked in my bathroom mirror and noticed that the drapes were slightly shifting in the breeze. I turned and shut the window. I made a mental note, I needed to remember to shut that. At least it didn't rain this time. 

That's when I noticed my bracelet spring to life, the jewel glowing a fierce red. Something's not right. Shit, I thought. My gun is in the other room, it tends to be a little more reliable and there's a lot less to explain afterwards. 

Just then I was grabbed from behind. My attacker had jumped out from behind the shower curtain and got a good grip in my arms. He was strong and knew what he was doing because he dug my right hand into the small of my back preventing me from using the Witchblade in fear of stabbing myself. I caught a quick glance in the mirror, not much to my surprise it was the killer who had taken me captive.

"Go ahead Sara," He spoke softly making me tremble as his warm foul breath caressed the side of my neck. "Use your weapon. I'd love if you did some of the work for me." With his free hand he reached up to the other side of my neck and just barely cut me enough that I could feel my warm blood trickling down my neck.

Man, I thought. This guy is strong. The Blade gives me extra strength and other abilities, but I can't do squat to stop this guy. 

"So you're the wielder of the Blade I presume? Seeing as how you're alive and well after taking a bullet in the chest." What? This guy knows who I am, I realized. I mean, he saw me use the blade at our earlier encounter, but how does he know what it is and that I am the Wielder? 

"I've been looking all over for you Sara." He sneered at me.

Suddenly a loud crash came from the other room and made my attacker jump. 

"Sara!" It was Jake's voice I heard call out to me.

The man quickly grabbed my right arm with such force that I knew I would have bruises there later. He took my hand away from my back and immediately the Witchblade took form and the sword emerged. He used my arm to point my own blade at my chin. I started wondering, could this thing really hurt me? How could it harm it's master? Of course, it was known to do worse to those who wore it. Just then my partner came around the corner with his gun aimed.

"Freeze Buddy! Let her go!" He shouted. His eyes were so focused and full of fear.

"You better put down your weapon boy, or your partner is going to die!" His voice was hoarse, as if he had been a life-long smoker. It only added to the creepiness of his looks.

"If you hurt her.." Jake said sternly while lowering his gun to the floor. Still crouching down and his hand just barely touching the handle of the gun, "Alright, I'm putting down my weapon, now let her go." He spoke slowly and made sure to full articulate all of his words.

"First stand up and kick the gun over here, then you can have your precious partner back."

Jake followed the man's instructions. The gun slid across the bathroom tiles and clanked when it hit the edge of the bathtub about a few feet over from where I stood. Still in his grip my own sword just inches away from stabbing into my neck. 

"That was an awfully big risk, don't you think?" The man almost seemed to cackle as he giggled to himself. "I mean, is she really worth all of this? Is she important enough for you to risk all of this? Why don't you just leave her here for me?" Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the man smile. 

"I'm a cop. It's my Job. She's my partner." Jake spoke simply and sternly. One sentence at a time. His eyes however spoke differently to me. He stared into them trying to tell me that it would all be all right, that he wouldn't let anything happen to me.

"All right PARTNER." The man emphasized the last part. "take her then!"

The man took my right hand with the blade pointed right at my chin and pulled my arm back as if to get a little more momentum before he went to thrust it into my neck.

"NOOOOOOO!" Jake screamed out as he jumped towards us, in an attempt to stop my attacker. But I think that had been the man's plan the whole time, just to get Jake closer to us, because before either of us knew what was going on, he changed directions with my arm. And he drove my sword straight through Jake's chest.

{I am soooooo mean ending it here, but I need to keep you all interested while I work on future chapters, don't worry though. I won't make you wait too long.:)Tell me what you think! Have a good day, and for all you students out there, good luck with midterms!}


	4. Afterthoughts

{First off, I'm not sure that I have ever mentioned this (and I'm waaaaay too lazy to go back and put it in), but Witchblade a Darrow Clark Darrow Clark 2 259 2001-11-01T20:57:00Z 2001-11-01T20:57:00Z 4 1585 9039 Progressive Technology Group 75 18 11100 9.3821 

{So I wish I could say that this is so late due to all of the obvious delays, but truth be told I only finished this chapter a little while agoJ Sorry to leave you all hanging so long!

 **I'm not sure that I have ever mentioned this or if I need to (and I'm waaaaay too lazy to go back and put it in), but Witchblade and all of it's characters are not owned by me. I claim no rights. I'm just a poor college student, so please don't sue me.}

Chapter 4: Afterthoughts

I stood facing Jake. My right hand, sheathed in a mystical glove of armor, was right up against Jake's stomach with the sword that had emerged from it protruding out of his back, right between his shoulder blades. He was still slightly hunched over from the impact; his eyes were locked on mine with a look of fear and pain I had only seen one other time, when Danny had been killed.

            I know part of me had noticed that my attacker had let go of me and grabbed Jake's gun as he bounded out the front door of my apartment. But the rest of me couldn't stop searching Jake's eyes for a glimmer of hope that this wouldn't be the last time I looked into them.

            Jake had gasped when the Blade had entered him and now he stood with his mouth hanging open as if he were unable to take in any air. His usual tanned skin tone was a harsh pale, a single tear streamed down his cheek.

            "Oh my God, Jake." I tried to yell out, but it sounded more like a sob. My own weapon had been used against me to attack my own partner. I didn't know what to do, so I willed the sword to contract and it did without hesitation, sliding out of Jake's chest and hiding back up into the bracelet. Jake dropped to his knees as if it had been the only thing holding him up.

            I followed and dropped to my knees in front of him. I caught him as he started to fall forward trying to use his hands to catch himself and gasping desperately for air. 

            "Jake." I sobbed again as I rolled him onto his back with his head in my lap, his eyes had closed. "No, don't leave me." 

            I began to tear up, which annoyed me, because it was blurring my vision. I went to pull his shirt up out of the way so as to get a better look at the wound. It was then that I realized he wasn't bleeding. 

            "Jake," I couldn't form sentences. Not that I had anything to talk about, I was just trying to rationalize with myself out loud. "Jake you're not bleeding?" Tears streamed down my face. "Jake, can you hear me?" I had his shirt pulled up as I leaned over him, frantically searching his muscular chest for a wound or cut, but there wasn't one. 

            Jake inhaled sharply and his eyes burst open. 

            "Sara!" he called out.

            "I'm here," I looked down at him, his head still in my lap, his breathing was labored. "Are you okay? Are you in pain?" I needed to know what was going on.

            "I'm not dead." He whispered. I couldn't tell if he was making a statement or asking a question, but I answered him anyway.

            "No. You're not even cut." I motioned to his chest.

            He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. 

            "I felt it, Pez." He said softly, looking up at me. He slowly sat up from my lap with the help of his shaky arms and sat across from me, half leaned over. I still had tears streaming down my face as I helped him into this semi-upright position.

            He glanced at me. "I felt it cut through every part of me. It was real Pez. It felt real. Then it all just vanished." His words were soft and quite, his breathing was still a little off.

            I reached forward and touched his shirt that had fallen back into place, there was a blade-size hole in it, and I'm sure there would be one to match in the back.

            "Jake, I am so sorry. I couldn't.. he was so strong, I didn't mean to." I just blurted it all out, it wasn't very sensical.

            "I know, it's not your fault." He said. I still must have looked pretty dazed, because he reached up and touched my cheek, lifting my face to meet his eyes.

            "Sara, I'm still alive." He said with a weak smile.

            The tears were still streaming, even though it didn't fell like I was crying anymore.             

"Yeah, you are." I answered with the best smile I could provide at the moment before grabbing him in a large hug. As I held him, his arms went around me tightening the embrace. "Oh god Jake. I thought I was watching another partner, another friend die. I couldn't bare to lose you too." I spoke half into his shirt collar as he held me, before pulling me back to face him.

            "Sara, it's okay." He said with a serious tone and a smile.

            I returned his smile and before I knew it he had leaned in, his eyes looking in mine, I didn't react. His lips gently touched mine. I closed my eyes in response and kissed him back. It was brief and gentle; to the casual onlooker it could have been considered platonic. He moved back and looked at me. 

            "I'm still here and I'm not leaving." 

            My cell phone rang. I looked in it's direction and then back to Jake before lifting myself off of the floor where we had still been sitting, between the bathroom door and the rest of the large loft. I walked over to the couch and pulled the cell out of my pocket.

            It had been the precinct calling me about a possible break-in, in my building. I informed them of the situation and how it had been our suspect. They were sending over a forensic crew so that we could hopefully find more evidence on the guy.

            Jake had waited on the couch trying to answer enough questions to satisfy the other detectives about how this guy had gotten away again. An oversized band-aid I had applied to the small and already healing cut on my neck at least bought us some explanation. I could hear Jake explaining our fictional tale of how Jake had come back up to my apartment to borrow my phone and had apparently frightened away the attacker who had fled the scene after leaving me with a cut on my neck and a bump on my head. I was suddenly more thankful than ever that Jake was now a part of my secret.

            I had spent the time packing a few items, seeing as how my apartment, for the time being, was considered a crime-scene.

            Apparently they had found Jake's story to their liking because they had allowed him to leave with me as they finished up for the night.

            "So what now?" Jake asked me as we walked down the hall and into the elevator. 

            "I dunno, I'm going to grab a hotel I guess."

            "Come on Pez, just crash at my place." He looked over at me as if to say, _is there really any other option?_

            "Really? You don't mind? I mean, I did almost kill you tonight." I added trying to make a joke.

            "Sara. Really." Was all he said as he nodded and we headed for the car.

            The drive home had been in silence, I think we both had a lot to contemplate. Like; What had happened tonight? What had my attacker wanted with me? Would he have killed me if Jake hadn't shown up? And how was Jake still alive for that matter?

            "Jake?" I asked cutting the silence. 

            "Yeah?" He turned to look at me briefly before returning his attention to the road.

            "How did you know that I was danger?" 

            "I told you Sara, I feel a "connection", I just knew. As soon as I pulled away from your building I had this horrible feeling that you needed help." He looked straight ahead and kept driving. Neither of us spoke again until we got to his apartment.

*          *            *            *            *

I emerged from Jake's bathroom in my gray pajama pants and a white tank top. I found Jake sitting quite comfortably in silence on his couch, also donning some blue plaid pajama pants and a white T-shirt that read: Surf N' Sand Competition.

            "Hey" I said plopping down next to him on the couch. "What would Dante say if he knew this was the second time I've slept here this week?"

            "If you keep this up, I might as well give you a drawer." He returned my smile before I changed the conversation.

            "You were right Jake. I don't know how to explain it, but we definitely have a "connection"." I said, making quotation marks with my fingers. "That's the only way I can explain what has happened tonight. How you knew I needed your help and how you're still alive." The last part came out so quietly it was almost a whisper.

            "Maybe," Jake replied. "That thing, the Witchblade, it knows me now. After it healed you through my hand, it recognizes me and it won't harm me." Jake moved a little closer and turned to sit sideways on the couch so as to face me. "Do you feel the connection too Sara?"

            "Yes." I answered quietly as I looked down at my hands in my lap.

            "There's something else." Jake said making me look back up in curiosity. I was surprised to see him taking off his shirt. I stole a better glance at his well-defined chest. He caught me looking and I quickly turned my attention back to his face, his dirty blonde hair was more tousled than usual from pulling off the shirt. "Look." He motioned down to his stomach, just to the edge of his navel. Thankfully, there was no gaping chest wound as I had expected to see earlier, but in its place was a strange scar.

            The scar was shaped like two raised circles about the size of quarters. One was above the other, barely overlapping enough to form an intersection. I reached out and touched it softly, tracing my finger over the shapes.

            "Jake," I said while examining it. "I've seen this symbol before. Kenneth Irons has one on his wrist. He claims that he received it after a brief contact of trying to wear the Witchblade. "And," I paused and pulled the collar of my tank top down, just far enough to reveal my matching scar that sat on my left shoulder just beneath the collarbone. "I got this about 11 months before I even found the Blade."

            Jake mimicked my earlier motions and reached out to touch my scar. I pulled my hand back from him and he laid his hand on my shoulder. The moment was comfortable, but awkward at the same time. I looked up to find him staring at me.

            "Sara, I…" Before he could finish, I interrupted. 

            "Long day, huh?" I said turning to face forward. "I need to wind down."

            "Uh, yeah. Me too." 

            He reached over to grab the television remote and clicked it on to the Cartoon Network. "How about 'Space Ghost'?" 

I smiled. "Sure."

I pulled a blanket over myself and curled up on the couch next to him. 

I remembered watching the cartoon, but I didn't quite remember what had happened and next thing I knew, I awoke to find myself being carried to his bedroom. 

"Jake?" I whispered as he lay me down on the mattress.

"Shhh, go back to sleep." He responded and pulled the covers up over me. "Goodnight Sara." He leaned over to place a gentle kiss on my forehead before turning to walk back out through his turnstile "door."

"Jake, stay." I called out a little louder. From what I could see in the dark, he stopped and curiously glanced over in my direction.

I patted the covers next to me. "Just stay, I don't want to be alone." Without a word, he climbed into bed beside me.

"Goodnight."

{What do you think?   Too sappy? Please review! Hopefully it won't take nearly as long for the next chapter. Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!}


	5. Parallels

{Hello everyone! I remember when I used to hold off putting up the next chapter in hope of more reviews, and now it's all I can do to finish writing the next chapter, no less get it typed up and posted! Any~who I hope everyone is enjoying the story and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review!}

Chapter 5: Parallels

            "Sara." I was in a dark place. I tried to look around to decipher where the voice was coming from. "Sara." It was a low and scratchy taunting whisper, the voice of the murderer. I put my arms out in front of me as I searched through the darkness trying to find where I was. "Sara, it wasn't your turn to die the other day. There are ones that must come before you, but don't worry, your turn will be soon enough."

            "Why do you want me?!" I screamed into the darkness.

            "It's not you I want Sara." Suddenly, the man was behind me and grabbed my wrist so tight that the bracelet dug into my skin. "It's THIS I want!"

            "Help!" I screamed out, trying to free myself of his grasp. "Jake!"

            "Don't you remember what happens when you get your little boy involved?" The man's voice screeched out and he motioned off to the side where there was just enough light to make out Jake's body lying limp and covered in blood. 

            "Your turn is soon Sara." 

            "Nooooooooooo!" I bolted up in bed; beads of sweat covered my body as I panted for air.

            "Sara!" My scream had awakened Jake and he too bolted up next to me. "What's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?" He softly ran his hand through my long brown hair in an effort to calm me.

            I shook my head in disagreement. "Another vision. He spoke to me specifically. Told me that it was almost my turn, and that you would die too."

            "Sara. We're not going to let that happen." He continued to stroke my hair.

            "I know, it's just -the visions, they're so real. You know?"     

            "Yeah, I do." He nodded and put his arms around me in a tight embrace. "I won't let anything happen to you." He ended the hug and lay back down patting my pillow beside him. "Let's go back to sleep, it's early."

            Despite his requests, there was no way that I was going back to sleep. Jake, on the other hand had drifted off before I had even rolled out of bed. I was thankful that he had not been close enough to share the vision. No need for both of us to lose sleep over my nightmares.

            I took a long, hot, relaxing shower in hopes of "washing away" the images. Eventually I made my way into the kitchen to whip up something for breakfast. 

            I stood over the stove frying a pan of bacon watching the grease spatter all over the range top. I heard the shower start up, Jake must have finally decided to get up, it was almost 10am. 

            "Hey Sara." The voice coming from behind me caught me off guard just enough to make me jump. I quickly turned around to find my deceased partner Danny standing there smiling at me. 

            "Jesus Danny! Do you TRY to startle me?"

            He just continued to smile at me before changing the subject. "So you're sleeping with your partners now, huh? Why didn't you start that habit when I was still yours?" His smile never left his face.

            "Ha. Ha." I replied not wanting to go there. 

            He continued to laugh to himself as he wandered over to "lean" against the back of the couch on the other side of the kitchen counter. I took the pan off the heat and leaned over the counter to talk with him.

            "So what brings you here? Or was it just to tease me?" I asked none too amused. 

            "I only come to bring you wisdom." He replied. I rolled my eyes. "The dead women you are investigating, they have more in common than you think." He finally said.

            "To each other?" I asked, while mentally sorting through what it could be.

            "To all of you, Sara. Check the morgue."

            "Hey." Jake wandered into the living room/ kitchen area rubbing a towel over his wet hair. "You talking to yourself?"

            "Well.." I gestured over towards Danny preparing to explain to him that while he can't see him, my dead partner was in fact there and that the Witchblade allowed me to communicate with him. 

            Jake glanced over in his direction, his eyes peeking out from under the towel. 

            "Boo." Danny said jokingly and very unenthusiastically before vanishing.

            "Holy Shit!" Jake stuttered in astonishment as he stumbled backwards falling on his ass. "What the hell?"

            "You saw him?" I asked somewhat surprised, although you'd think I wouldn't be.

            "Yeah I saw him! I saw your dead partner standing in my living room." 

            "You're the first one besides me to see him." I said nonchalantly.

            "So, the Witchblade lets you…?" He trailed off looking for the right words.

            "I see dead people." I said in my best-whispered voice. The movie reference made me laugh to myself, but I kept a straight face because Jake didn't seem amused. "Just Danny though, he's sorta my guardian angel of the Witchblade. He just shows up every now and then to offer advice." 

            Jake stood up off the floor and picked up his towel. "So what was his advice?" He asked.

            "He told me that we should go to the morgue."

*          *            *            *            *            *

            Shortly after, Jake and I found ourselves sitting outside the entrance to the basement room of the precinct building waiting for Vicki to arrive.

            I took a sip of my coffee that had replaced my breakfast and looked up to see Vicki in her casual clothes walking towards us down the long sparsely lit hallway. I had always thought that she was a pretty woman, with her dark complexion and long black hair, but she looked even nicer in jeans and a sweater than her usual green scrubs.

            "Morning." I said handing her the third Styrofoam cup we had brought along. "Sorry to drag you down here on a Saturday."

            "It's fine." She said, accepting the coffee with a smile while unlocking the door. "Let's just make it quick, okay."

            We followed her into the dark room. I really hated this place; it quite literally stank of death. The harsh fluorescent lights popped on one at a time, illuminating the cold basement room. It had a green and white tiled floor and most of the furnishings were made of stainless steel. I noted how everything in there was designed to be easy to clean and sanitize. Judging by the lingering lemon-fresh scent in the air, the cleaning crew had been by recently.

            "I hate this place." I heard Jake mutter to himself. He's not the only one, I thought.

            "So which one do you want to see?" Vicki asked as she walked over to the neatly labeled steel drawers that each housed a body.

            "All three of them please." I responded.

            "What are you looking for?" She asked looking towards me and then over to Jake who was lingering in the back of the room near the door.

            "Hopefully, I'll know soon." I said smiling. Vicki rolled her eyes and shook her head as she began to unlock doors and slide out the trays that held each body. I watched and tried not to breath through my nose as I choked back a gag.

            "All three women were cut up pretty badly, the first two were in there twenties and the last was thirty-three. In all three cases death was due to blood loss from the multiple wounds." She read me the basic details of each case in a very professional manner. "Do you have any more questions? Because I was going to wander over to my office and do some paperwork." She handed me the files she had been reading from. 

            "No, these should be fine." I said waving the files. "Thanks Vicki, it shouldn't be too long."

            She nodded and walked out of the room. I turned to Jake who seemed uninterested.

            "McCartey. You alright?" I asked.

            "Sorry." He said as he pushed himself off the wall and moved over next to me. "Guess I'm still not use to coming down here."

            "Trust me, you never get used to it." I said.

            "So what are we looking for?" He asked me as he put on a latex glove and pulled back the sheet covering the first girl. "Jesus." 

            Her body was a bluish pale, cold and dry. The body had been cut so many times and the skin had dried and cracked apart. It was like a horrific jigsaw puzzle that didn't seem to quite fit together. 

            "We're trying to find something they all have in common besides being cut up." I answered.

            "There's not a whole lot left to see here Sara, this one even has an entire chunk of flesh missing." Jake said before looking up and away from the body, picking an imaginary point across the room to change his focus to.

            I glanced down to the girl I was examining. She too had a small section of skin that was completely missing. It was about a two by three inch section and judging by the surrounding cuts, it didn't seem accidental. 

            I looked over at the girl Jake was trying to avoid looking at, while still pointing out the area to me. We checked the third body and sure enough, on the small of her back there was a hole roughly the size of the others.

            "Nice work detective." I said patting Jake on the back. 

            "But what does it mean? What was removed? A tattoo maybe?" He guessed.

            "Or a mark." I said, rubbing mine through my shirt.

            "You think they are connected to the Witchblade somehow?" He asked.

            "I'll bet on it. Come on," I said while pushing the drawers closed. "Let's get out of here, there's someone I think can answer some questions for us."

*          *            *            *            *            *

We had knocked on the door of Talismaniacs a few times before letting ourselves in. We could hear music blaring rather loudly through the door and we had really only knocked to be polite, not expecting anyone to hear us. As we entered the shop I was able to identify the song as _Magic Carpet Ride_ by Steppenwolf, I had always thought that Gabriel had great taste in music. 

            "Hello!" I yelled out over the music.

            Behind me Jake had shut the door and began to casually browse the shelves of antique artifacts. 

            Gabriel had turned off the stereo and wandered into the room to greet me. He was dressed in a long-sleeve navy blue button up shirt that hung over his dark brown corduroy pants. His taste in clothes was almost as eclectic as his taste in music. As always, his shaggy dark hair hung down over his brown eyes. He was a cute kid, although he'd kill me if he ever heard me use that term. While he was younger than me, it wasn't by very much.

            "Hey Pez, what's up?" He asked. 

            "Hey Gabriel, you remember my partner Jake." I gave a brief introduction. Jake looked up from a shelf across the room and offered a smile as a greeting before returning his attention to a cursed canopic jar. 

"We're on a case that I believe is somehow connected to the Witchblade. I was hoping you could help me find some information." I explained.

            As I spoke, Gabriel glanced over at Jake suspiciously. 

            "Don't worry, he's knows everything there is to know about this thing." I said lifting my wrist.

            "Sure thing. So what's the story?" He asked curiously.

            I gave him a detailed description of the murders and explained that all three bodies had had a piece of skin removed, which I believed had a specific marking on it.

            "Do you happen to know what kind of mark?" He asked, looking for a little more information.

            I pulled at the collar of my shirt, so as to expose mine.

            "Wow." He said, while examining it. "I've read that the wielder supposedly wore the 'Mark of the Blade' but that's not what I had been expecting." He walked into the back of the store; which became his living area and sat down to pull something up on his computer. It was a drawing of the two circles from what looked like an ancient text that had been scanned into the computer. "So you think the girls that were murdered had this mark and it was removed?"

            "Yeah, have you heard anything about why someone would want to remove them?" I asked.

            "I've read that, supposedly people who come in contact with the Blade can be left with a scar, and that sometimes it becomes a 'mark of death'. But I'll keep looking and see what I can find for you." 

            I looked over to see if Jake had heard the mention of death, by the serious look on his face, he had.

            "Thanks Gabriel." I smiled.

            "Hey no problem chief, I'll call you when I find something."

            "Great, I'll talk to you later."

             We walked out into the cold afternoon weather. I was quiet as we climbed into the car. 

            "So the 'Mark of Death', huh?" Jake said light-heartedly.

            "It's only a myth Jake." I responded in a more serious tone.

            "I know. You didn't think something as simple as a 'death mark' was going to scare me away, did you?" He said smiling.

            "It should." I said. My tone was darker as I focused my sight to the dashboard. "Death follows this thing around. Just last night you were almost killed by this Blade. You should get far away from me, while you can." It hurt for me to say the words, but if anything happened to him because of me, I don't know what I would do.

            "I won't stay away Sara." His voice was positive and serious. I looked over at him and caught his gaze. "I'm in love with you."

            "Wha..?" I barely made a sound.

            "I'm in love with you." He repeated.

            A small smile spread across my face as Jake leaned across the center console of the car to bring his lips to mine. As he moved towards me, he paused, just for a second; probably making sure I wasn't about to slap him or something. But I merely closed my eyes and waited. His soft lips finally met mine while his arms wrapped around me, pulling my body closer to his. 

{Well, I guess that's a good place to end this chapter, sorry I keep leaving these at the lovey-dovey parts, oh well. Just a reminder~ If you read this PLEASE review, even if it's only a couple of words. It's nice to know who's reading your stuff. Well, Happy Thanksgiving to all those that celebrate!}  


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